Steichen: A Biography

by Penelope Niven

Not since 1929 has there been a biography of Edward Steichen, photographer, painter, and a pivotal yet enigmatic figure in twentieth-century art and culture on two continents. Steichen, who died just short of his ninety-fourth birthday, was fifty and internationally famous when Steichen the Photographer was written by his brother-in-law, the poet and biographer Carl Sandburg. Now Penelope Niven, whose highly acclaimed biography of Sandburg appeared in 1991, has written the first comprehensive biography of Steichen.

Here, she illuminates the full story of Steichen's avant-garde life in Paris and New York and his roles in introducing modern art to the American audience, in shaping aerial reconnaissance photography in World War I and navy photography in World War II, in revolutionizing American fashion and portrait photography through his years as chief of photography at Vanity Fair and Vogue, and in creating the unprecedented photographic exhibition The Family of Man, which has touched a global audience of millions since it opened in 1955.

Searching the world over for Steichen's letters, paintings, and photographs, Niven has reconstructed his major, pioneering achievements. Steichen's enduring contributions to the fine art of photography have not been fully recognized because they have not, until now, been fully documented and placed within the context of his times and his turbulent, romantic, and often tragic personal life.

With the help of public and private papers and interviews, Niven builds a compelling portrait of the charismatic, complex, very human man behind the camera. We explore Steichen's gardens and his artful love of nature, manifested in his obsessive achievements as a master breeder of delphinium. We step inside his intimate, private world--and view his passionate attachment to his mother, his sister, and his two daughters; the heartrending battles of his first marriage; and his alleged and actual love affairs. This biography also explores Steichen's catalytic relationships with August Rodin, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Alfred Stieglitz, Gertrude and Leo Stein, and Carl and Lilian Steichen Sandburg.

"Steichen was a rebel, stubbornly independent and largely self-taught, who also believed passionately in the fundamental intersections of art and life," Penelope Niven writes. As this biography reveals, Edward Steichen's life, like his art, was brilliantly original, dramatic, and unforgettable.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art

770 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Penelope Niven is the author of critically acclaimed biographies of poet Carl Sandburg and photographer Edward Steichen. Her books include CARL SANDBURG: A BIOGRAPHY; STEICHEN: A BIOGRAPHY; VOICES AND SILENCES, co-authored with the actor James Earl Jones, and praised as a classic on acting; and SWIMMING LESSONS, a memoir. Her Steichen biography has just been translated into Chinese. CARL SANDBURG: ADVENTURES OF A POET, her biography for children, was awarded an International Reading Association Prize "for exceptionally distinguished literature for children," one of six books honored among publications from 99 countries. She is presently working on a biography of Thornton Wilder, to be published in 2012 by HarperCollins.

She has been awarded two honorary doctorates, three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Thornton Wilder Visiting Fellowship at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, among other honors. She received the North Carolina Award in Literature, the highest honor the state bestows on an author. During the past twenty years she has lectured across the United States and in Switzerland, Canada and Wales, and has served as an editor for various publications and a consultant for television films on Sandburg, Jones, and Steichen. She has recently retired after twelve years as Writer-in-Residence at Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Penelope Niven is the mother of award-winning author Jennifer Niven (THE ICE MASTER; ADA BLACKJACK: A TRUE STORY OF SURVIVAL IN THE ARCTIC; VELVA JEAN LEARNS TO DRIVE; THE AQUA-NET DIARIES; and VELVA JEAN LEARNS TO FLY.)

Reviews

[Kinan Faham · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book should have been titled: The Marital Affairs Of Steichen and [all] his friends.

The enjoyable chapters for me covered the formative years in the 19th century before Steichen got married. Afterwards, the book went downhill and became outright unreadable.

[Pete Hendley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. Covers the photographer's life extensively. It is well-written and full of detail. It's long, but well worth it.

[Richelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used this book for various writing samples for graduate school applications. It's a fantastic resource, but I think it includes way too much detail. Every single element of the photographer's life is recorded here, and I'm not sure that all of it is relevant or contributes much to the greater understanding of his life and legacy. The book could have been that much better had it been edited more.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Niven's book is a comprehensive biography of Steichen...one of those that at times tells you much more than you need to know. His autobiography is a more enjoyable read. But the benefit of Niven's work is that in many ways it also serves as an introduction to the history of the art of photography. I do recommend it.

[Gabriel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not nearly enough about the art, and way too much about Steichen's domestic troubles. I also wish the author could have attained the rights to reproduce Steichen's photos. Though not the author's fault, this really detracted from the quality of the book.

[Martin Kimeldorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning in her comprehensive story telling, from rags to riches, from darkness to light. Steichen's story will inspire anyone with an interest in photography. He also worked on behalf of the great painters at the turn of the 20th century. He is Da man!